Dissolvable paper helmet is probably better than nothing

Right now, bike share users generally have two options for head protection: carry around a helmet (in a fashionable bag, perhaps) or go helmet-less. That’s changing, though.

In Boston, bike helmet vending machines, which distribute reusable helmets that are sanitized after each use, are coming in July. And a trio of British art and design students have created the Paper Pulp Helmet — a cheap, water-resistant shell of recycled newspaper that can be broken back down into paper pulp and reformed again and again. Check out the video above to get a sense of how they made these.

Metro reports that the helmets meet “stringent European safety standards,” whatever that means. One of the biggest boons to cyclist safety is simply having more cyclists on the road, but if wearing a papier-mache hat that makes you look like a character from MASH helps you feel safer, by all means, go for it.